Vacation All I Ever Wanted
by writeallnight
Summary: Kensi and Deeks deserve this cruise vacation. It's been a long year and they need some time just for the two of them. But vacations don't always go according to plan...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I've wanted to do a fun Densi vacation fic for awhile now so I started this one and it became kind of a monster. Whoops! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Oh my god," Kensi sighed, taking in the view. "This is perfect."

"Remind me again why you had to bring so many shoes?" Deeks struggled through the doorway behind her, several bags balanced precariously in his arms.

"Always be prepared," she reminded him, reaching for one of the bags that was about to topple. "God, I need this cruise."

Ten days all to themselves. It had been a long year, too long, the loss of two of their colleagues coming so quickly on the heels of Kensi's injury leaving them raw and grief stricken. They needed this time to take a break and find on another again.

"I don't know why you brought clothes anyway. You're not going to need them." Deeks dropped the rest of the bags on the floor and pulled her onto the bed.

His lips had just claimed hers when there was a knock on the door. He groaned. "We're not home!"

"It's probably the porter with our suitcases," Kensi informed him.

"He can come back later."

"Deeks…"

"Fine!"

It was the porter and he did have their suitcases. By the time Deeks tipped him and got the luggage into the room, Kensi had stepped outside onto the balcony. "Really, I'm fine," Deeks grunted as he dragged their bags across the floor and shoved them next to the others. "Don't need any help."

"I cannot believe we're getting away with this. Ten days with no bad guys, no shootouts."

"No cell reception, which means no Hetty interrupting us." Deeks slid up behind her, pressing his lips to her neck. "You want to finish what we were starting there?"

"We didn't spend $8,000 on a vacation just to stay in bed the whole time," Kensi told him.

"We didn't?" His hands found her hips.

"Nope. Let's go explore the ship. They have a sushi bar somewhere!"

"Can't we spend just a little time in bed?" His lips found her shoulder.

Her breath hitched. "Later!" she insisted weakly.

It turned out to be much later.

* * *

The ship was gorgeous. Ten decks, three swimming pools and hot tubs, two nightclubs, a sushi bar, spa, and four different restaurants. They stood on the top deck, over-priced but delicious drinks in hand as the ship pulled out of port. "That's really it," Kensi sighed as land began to disappear from view. "Radio silence for ten days."

"Thank god," Deeks murmured, pressing his lips briefly to hers.

"Where to first?" Kensi asked. "Not the bed," she added as he opened his mouth.

"Then the pool," Deeks told her.

"Because I'll be in a bikini?"

"Yes. Absolutely yes."

She rolled her eyes. "Is this what you're going to be like for the entire trip?"

"Probably."

Someone bumped into Kensi and she stumbled, her drink sloshing over the sides of the glass. "Sorry," mumbled the offending crew member as he hurried away.

"Wow," Deeks said, watching the man's retreating form. "Do you think it's standard practice for them to try and push their guests overboard?"

"Seriously, where's the fire?" Kensi agreed as she wiped her hands on a napkin.

By the time they reached the pool the incident had retreated from their minds, the mixture of warm sun and freely flowing alcohol mellowing their moods even further. Deeks almost managed to convince Kensi to skip dinner but the allure of steak and cheesecake was too great a competition. He nearly put his foot down when he saw the red dress she was wearing but knowing it would be a losing battle he vowed to eat quickly and then make an excuse to get them back to the room as quickly as possible.

They were being escorted into the restaurant when Kensi stopped short. "Let's go back to the room."

"What? Why?" Deeks asked, startled that his mental picture had become a sudden reality.

"Just come on, that's what you wanted to do anyway, right?" She ran a finger seductively over the front of his shirt.

"Yeah, but now that we're here I'm kind of hungry," he told her. "What's wrong?"

"There are people at our table," Kensi replied, her eyes darting behind him.

"Oookay. You know that's how cruises work right? You get paired up with other people to have dinner."

"That was not in the brochure!"

"Kensi, it's just one other couple. People make vacation friends all the time. It's fine. Come on. Steak. Shrimp. Cheesecake."

She grimaced. "Fine."

"Eiffel Tower on a Sunday?"

She looked at him like he was crazy. "No let's go with a Disney Turnabout."

"But I don't remember anything about veterinary medicine."

"Are you serious?"

"It's been a long time!"

"Fine, Poughkeepsie Keepaway, all right?"

"Okay, but I get to be the comic book artist and our dogs are named Matthew McConaughey and Patti Lupone."

"Deal."

They walked to the table, all smiles and hellos as they sat down. "Hi, I'm Brooklyn. This is Carlos," the young woman said.

She was a platinum blonde with bright blue eyes and a gorgeous smile and her husband wasn't terrible to look at either. His brown hair was swept rakishly to the side and he offered a firm handshake with unnervingly direct eye contact.

"I'm Kensi. This is Marty," Kensi said by way of introduction.

"Nice to meet you. Where are you from?" Carlos asked.

"Los Angeles. We just got engaged so this trip is kind of a little celebration," Deeks told them.

"Oh how sweet! Can I see your ring?" Brooklyn asked.

Kensi obligingly held out her left hand and the other couple made the appropriate oohing and ahhing noises. "How about you guys. Where are you from?"

"Portland," Carlos said. "It's our third anniversary."

"Wow, three years. That's awesome, congratulations," Deeks offered.

The waiter came to offer them wine and take their order and the conversation continued in a surprisingly pleasant manner. Kensi felt herself begin to unwind as they spun their minor deception and listened to their new friends. The Sanfords were well traveled and cultured, but down to earth enough that they were easy to talk to. In fact, Kensi and Deeks found themselves invited to come along on their first stop in Mexico on a snorkeling adventure.

"I like them," Deeks said as they walked out of the restaurant. "They're cool."

"And funny," Kensi added, tucking her arm into his as they walked down the quiet deck.

Someone brushed past them and Kensi stopped. "What's up?" Deeks asked.

"That's the same guy that bumped into me earlier."

"Maybe he hasn't gotten his sea legs yet."

"He works on a cruise ship."

"True. Maybe he has coordination issues."

"Maybe."

They continued their walk but Kensi's eyes were now focused on the crewman several feet ahead. He suddenly ducked through a doorway, closing it behind him.

"Kiss me," Kensi said, pressing her back against the wall and pulling Deeks close.

Surprised, but happy to oblige, Deeks did so, finding her lips and then her neck. Kensi wound her fingers into his hair and tilted her head to give him better access. "Can we just…move this way like two inches. I can't hear."

Deeks paused. "Are you…eavesdropping on that crewmember?"

"Um, yeah," Kensi said as if it should be completely obvious. "What did you think we were doing?"

"I thought I was making out with my very hot fiancée but apparently you're too busy playing Sherlock Holmes for that."

"That guy is suspicious Deeks!"

"And we're on vacation Kensi! We're supposed to be lying on the beach, not going all Encyclopedia Brown on some member of the crew who's probably just taking a slightly illegal smoke break."

The door opened and the mysterious crewmember walked out carrying a mop and bucket. He headed away from them. "See?" Deeks said pointedly.

"Okay, fine, you're right!" Kensi acquiesced.

"So can we get back to the vacation now?"

Kensi bit her lip and fluttered her lashes seductively. "What did you have in mind?"

His lips claimed hers again making it _very_ clear what he planned to do for the rest of the evening.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I hope you've enjoyed the vacation adventure so far! Things are about to get a liiiiiiiittle bit less relaxing for our fave couple!

* * *

They pulled into port early the next morning. Kensi was sitting on the balcony watching them dock, wrapped in her bathrobe, coffee in hand. It was beautiful, peaceful, and she felt better than she had in months.

"Morning," Deeks whispered in her ear as he came to sit beside her.

"Morning." She said it with the smile she reserved only for him. The one that spoke of a fantastic night together and promised more to come.

"Any of that coffee for me?" he asked.

She passed him the mug and he took a sip, pulling a face. "How much creamer did you put in there?"

"Enough to make sure you wouldn't want to share," she replied cheekily.

He leaned forward and kissed her once, then again. "How much time do we have before breakfast?"

"Plenty," she breathed sliding into his lap.

They managed to make it to breakfast only a little bit late. Brooklyn and Carlos were already there, steaming coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice on the table. "So are you coming with us today?" Brooklyn asked once the food had arrived.

"Well, we were kind of planning to just hang out at the beach," Kensi said tentatively.

"You live in Los Angeles! You can go to the beach anytime. How often do you get to snorkel with near strangers in Mexico?"

Kensi looked to her partner who shrugged. "It could be fun."

"I guess we're in," Kensi told them.

It turned out to be a great day. In addition to his computer programming background, Carlos turned out to be an expert snorkeler. He led the small group through the water, finding all the best spots and most amazing creatures. When they had seen all there was to see they retired to the beach where the sunshine, beer, and laughter were plentiful before they parted briefly in the late afternoon to get ready for dinner.

Deeks and Kensi got slightly sidetracked in their preparations and found themselves running behind for the second time that day. "We have to stop being late," Kensi said as they hurried down the hallway, still trying to fix the damage Deeks had done to her hair.

"Well maybe if you would stop being so damn sexy." He grinned, taking her hand and making a hard left into a deserted corridor.

"Where are we going?"

"Shortcut."

Said shortcut ended up getting them somewhere, but it definitely wasn't where they wanted to be. "Where the hell are we?" Kensi asked.

"Uh…." Deeks looked around. "Let's try this one."

They stepped through a doorway into a dark room. "Okay, maybe not," he amended.

Kensi finally found a switch and illuminated the space. They had somehow made their way into the bowels of the ship. Ropes, boxes, and cleaning supplies filled the space. "Well I don't think anyone's bringing us dinner in here," she said dryly.

"Who needs dinner anyway?" Deeks pulled her close, threading his fingers into her hair, destroying the last shred of hope that it would look at all appropriate for the evening.

"What's that?"

Her eyes had found a spot over his shoulder and he turned to look. "What's what?"

"That thing sticking out of the box over there?"

"Wow, okay."

"I'm not making a sex joke Deeks." She smacked his arm and walked past him to the box she'd spotted.

"Maybe we shouldn't touch things that don't belong to us. We don't want to sink the ship."

"I'm not going to sink the ship," she rolled her eyes and flipped open the lid. "What the…"

Deeks stepped closer and found himself equally stunned. The box was full of machine guns. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think a cruise ship has much need for heavy artillery."

Kensi unlatched the case next to it. More of the same. A third box revealed the matching ammunition. By the time they had finished they'd opened twelve crates total. "What the hell did we just walk into?" Deeks asked.

"ATF! Put your hands in the air and get on your knees!"

The yell came from behind them and Kensi and Deeks turned to find their dinner partners staring at them from across the room, guns pointed directly at them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Deeks said as he and Kensi raised their hands. "Let's just take it easy."

"I said get on your knees!" Carlos yelled. "Now!"

"Listen, you're making a mistake," Deeks said as he slowly lowered himself to the floor.

"Do not talk!" Brooklyn said, holstering her weapon and reaching for a pair of zip ties.

"We're federal agents. NCIS," Kensi told them, her body tense, ready for a fight. She was NOT getting tied up on vacation.

This gave the two pause. "Technically I'm LAPD," Deeks added. "But yeah, I'm with her."

"That wasn't indicated on the ship's manifest," Carlos said.

"We have excellent backstopping," Kensi told them. "Make the call. Kensi Blye, NCIS and Martin Deeks, LAPD out of the Office of Special Projects. Hetty Lange is our operations manager. Check us out."

"Hetty Lange?" Brooklyn asked, exchanging glances with her partner.

"Stay right there," Carlos ordered, pulling out a satellite phone.

"How do we know they're really ATF?" Kensi whispered, her eyes still trained on their dinner partners turned possible assassins.

"Hetty Lange's name only puts that look of terror on your face if you've heard it whispered in darkened corners of federal buildings," Deeks replied. "Plus they have the guns so we're kind of at a disadvantage."

"Well, looks like the two of you check out," Brooklyn said. "Sorry about the mix up."

"We'll get over it," Kensi said as they got to their feet. "You want to fill us in on what's going on here?"

"Carlos Rodriguez, my partner Brooklyn West. We're undercover investigating firearms smuggling. There's been an uptick in illegal weapons coming and going from Mexico. And clearly you've found them."

"So…not married then?" Deeks clarified.

"No, just partners."

"Ha, that's what we used to say," Deeks snorted and Kensi elbowed him in the stomach.

"You two are partners? And engaged?" Brooklyn asked in surprise.

"And really on vacation," Kensi told them.

"Which apparently we suck at since we literally just fell over a case of illegal weaponry," Deeks added.

"What were you doing down here anyway?" Carlos asked.

"We…got lost," Kensi said faintly.

"Speaking of which we need to get out of here. We found the weapons but not a suspect and I personally would rather not throw away seventeen cruises worth of work," Brooklyn told them.

They closed up the cases and tried to put everything back the way they'd found it before heading out of the bowels of the ship and back up to where the rest of the guests were. "Have you really been on seventeen cruises?" Deeks asked.

"Yes," Brooklyn said with a sigh. "Too many. Do you have any idea how hard it is to pretend to every, single inane couple that we meet that we're in IT and marketing and make small talk about wine and children and cats?"

Kensi and Deeks exchanged a look. "Oh, not you guys," Carlos said quickly. "We like you guys."

Deeks nodded, unconvinced. "Right, well I should probably get this Ladybird fed, she gets cranky when she's hungry and since we missed dinner…"

"The club on Deck 2 has a great bar. And their bruschetta is amazing," Brooklyn told them. "We have some more surveillance to do tonight but you should go. We'll see you in the morning."

"Oh, are you sure you don't need our help?" Kensi asked.

"You're on vacation! Just enjoy it. We'll see you at breakfast," Carlos told them, with a wave.

"Okay but, there's this really suspicious looking deckhand with coordination issues," Kensi said as Deeks started pulling her away.

"We've got it covered. Have a drink for us!" Brooklyn called.

"Why don't they want our help?" Kensi pouted when they were out of earshot.

"Because we're on vacation. They're being nice."

"Or they think we don't know what we're doing."

"You really want to work a case right now?"

"No! Yes…? I don't know. I'm an adrenaline junkie."

"Let's leave saving the world to someone else for tonight, okay?"

Kensi made a face. "I thought we were making vacation friends."

"Yeah apparently we suck at that as much as we suck at not working," Deeks sighed.

"If only we had something to take our minds off of it. Something we don't suck at," Kensi said coyly.

He stopped. "You don't want dinner?"

"Ever heard of room service?"

Things were looking up.

* * *

A/N: Leave your love in the reviews!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you so much to all of you who have reviewed so far! You all are the absolute best! We're going to delve a little deeper into the mystery this week so I beg for your grace as you continue. Please remember that I teach music to small children for a living and the extent of my ability to fact check things is a deep dive into Google. I do my best but I'm definitely not perfect! I hope you continue to enjoy as our fave couple find themselves in more trouble than they ever bargained for!

* * *

They opted to skip breakfast the next morning, neither ready to face their new 'friends' and make fake, awkward small talk. Instead they slept late and readied to disembark at their second port as soon as they were docked.

"I love Mexico," Deeks declared as they stepped off the ship.

"You love anywhere that has the possibility of surfing," she teased, leaning into him.

"Also true," he conceded.

Kensi stopped and Deeks was forced to stop with her. "There he is. Where is he going?"

"Who?"

"That guy again."

"Baby come on."

"Let's just…see where he's going," she suggested. "Look, he's walking the same way we are anyway."

"Why don't we let Brooklyn and Carlos handle it?"

"Because they're not out here. We are."

Deeks continued to hesitate and she tugged on his hand. "Come on, aren't you up for a little adventure?"

He groaned and grudgingly allowed her to start pulling him after her suspect. "I thought coming to Mexico _was_ the adventure."

They followed the man at a distance, being careful to keep up their touristy appearance. They nearly lost him when a group of schoolchildren got in their way but picked him up again around the next corner just in time to see him slip into a building. An old, rundown, murder house kind of building.

"Okay, I'm drawing the line here," Deeks said.

"Really? Over an old building? You go on vacation for three days and you've suddenly forgotten all your detective training?"

"Listen Wonder Woman, not that I doubt your hand to hand combat skills, but whoever is in there definitely has guns, so unless you're suddenly bulletproof I say we go back to the ship, report it, and let the professionals handle it."

"We are the professionals!"

"And I don't want to get murdered on vacation! That is not going to read well on my tombstone!"

"Let's just peek in the windows. Then we'll have something to tell Brooklyn and Carlos."

"Or Brooklyn and Carlos can look for themselves."

They turned to find their dinner companions coming up the street behind them. "I thought you two were federal agents. Do you realize how easy it was to follow you?" Carlos asked.

"We're on vacation," Deeks protested.

"And you're welcome for leading you right to a suspect," Kensi told them.

"Okay, right, good work. Now you two can go back to your vacation and leave this job to the real agents," Brooklyn said.

Deeks felt Kensi bristle. "What the hell did you just say?" she growled.

"What my partner is saying is that this is an ATF case and you have no jurisdiction," Carlos explained.

"We're in Mexico, no one has jurisdiction!" Kensi shot back.

"But onboard the ship is American soil which means that _we_ are—"

"Well you know what—"

"Okay!" Deeks interjected. "Listen, we're all on the same team here. We were just trying to help."

Brooklyn gave a short laugh. "We've been on this case for months. We don't need your help."

"So, you know who this guy is and what he's doing here? And that even though we're in Mexico, he's Colombian? And that he walked out the back door about three minutes ago so any chance we had of following him and seeing who he's working with is now over for the day thanks to you?" Kensi told them. "Then please, continue without us. We certainly wouldn't want to interfere with your very advanced and important investigation."

She turned on her heel and walked back toward the beach, Deeks following close behind. "God you're hot when you're angry," he told her.

"What the hell is wrong with the two of them? Have they never heard of interdepartmental cooperation?" Kensi completely ignored his flirtation.

"For which we are the poster children," Deeks agreed.

"And seventeen cruises? Really? They couldn't figure it out any faster?"

"Well not everyone has the track record you and I do."

"We would have solved it in one cruise," she muttered.

"Of course we would."

"You're humoring me."

"Yes I am."

"I hate when you do that."

"I know. But like I said before, you're very hot when you're angry so I kind of like to keep you that way as long as possible." He paused. "That sounded weird."

"Yeah, it did." She shoved him into a sand dune and he was up in a flash chasing her down the beach. She squealed as he caught her around the waist and dragged her toward the ocean. "No! Deeks!"

It was too late. He pulled her with him and they fell laughing into the waves. "Cooled off now?" he asked cheekily.

She shoved his head under the water. "Not even close."

* * *

"Is there anyway for us to not eat for the rest of the cruise?" Kensi asked as she jabbed her earrings into place.

"I'm sorry, are you sick?" Deeks replied. "Kensi Blye asking to skip a meal?"

"I don't want to see them. God, ATF. They're the worst."

"Not as bad as CIA."

"But not great," she grimaced. "Room service again?"

"As much as I like where room service eventually takes us we have to face them sometime. And we definitely shouldn't let ATF ruin the rest of our vacation."

"How is it possible that of all the cruises we could have gone on, we just _happened_ to end up on the one with a firearms smuggling ring onboard?" Kensi moaned.

"We never do anything half-assed do we?" Deeks sighed, wrapping his arms around her. "Maybe it won't be so bad."

It turned out to be _very_ bad. The conversation was stilted and primarily one sided with Deeks doing most of the heavy lifting. Kensi found herself reaching for her wine glass with increasing frequency, which, thanks to the wait staff, always seemed to be full. "So," Deeks said as dessert was being served, "Portland. Weird place. Super weird."

"We're not actually from Portland," Carlos said coldly.

"Okay." Deeks took another drink from his own glass.

"I need some air," Kensi said, rising from her seat.

Deeks made to go with her. "I'm fine," she told him. "I'll be right back."

She stepped outside into the sea air. They were moving briskly to their next destination causing her to feel slightly off balance, although, if she was being honest, she'd definitely had a little too much wine. She leaned against the railing and sighed, gazing out into the blackness of the ocean. This vacation was turning out to be less than relaxing.

"Don't move or I will shoot."

The barrel of a gun pressed into the small of her back. Shit.

"Who are you? How did you find me?" The man's voice was low and rough, close to her ear. She recognized it immediately as that of the man they'd followed earlier.

"I'm here with my fiancé on vacation," she said evenly.

"I've seen you following me. I know someone found the cases. Now who are you?"

The gun dug into her spine and she winced. "I—"

The evening fireworks show exploded overhead and provided the distraction that she needed. Kensi grabbed the man's arm, slamming it against the railing so he released the gun and it fell down nine decks into the water. He swung at her, clipping her in the jaw. She went for his stomach and made a connection but her heels and the alcohol left her a little slower than normal and he managed to shove her against the rails headfirst. She saw stars and the next thing she knew his hands had closed around her throat, completely cutting off her oxygen.

She gripped his wrists and tried to pry them off to no avail. Her vision was beginning to cloud so she stomped on his foot as hard as possible. At least high heels were good for one thing. He jumped and loosened his hold enough for Kensi to bash her skull against his.

He let go completely and stumbled away, disappearing from her sigh. She sagged against the railing, gagging and choking, gasping for air. She was still on the floor of the deck when Deeks and their dinner companions came out to find her. "Oh my god!" Brooklyn came to a stop, Carlos and Deeks close behind.

"Kensi!" Deeks was at her side immediately. "What the hell happened? You're bleeding."

"It was the deckhand," she croaked, swaying unsteadily as he helped her to her feet. "He ambushed me with a gun. He knew we'd found the crates."

She blanched and vomited over the side of the ship. Deeks rubbed her back soothingly.

They were starting to attract attention from other guests who were beginning to leave the second seating of dinner. "Why don't you take her up to the Health Center? We'll meet you there," Carlos said.

"I'm fine," Kensi waved them off but she still couldn't quite keep her balance while standing.

"Come on babe," Deeks murmured, wrapping an arm around her shoulder for support. He was anxious to get her out of the crowd. "You all right?" he asked when they were finally out of the way.

"He knew we'd been following him," she said, her voice still raspy. "I shouldn't have let my guard down."

"It's not your fault," Deeks told her fiercely. "You did great."

"I let the gun fall in the water."

"It's okay."

She stumbled and he lifted her completely into his arms. "Deeks, I'm all right," she told him.

"I know you are," he replied but he didn't put her down until they reached the Health Center doors.

A doctor approached them immediately. "Whoa what happened here?"

"Somebody got a little tipsy and took a spill," Deeks said, his face a mask of false cheer, as he squeezed Kensi's hand reassuringly.

"That doesn't look too bad," the doctor inspected the wound on Kensi's head. "Shouldn't even need stitches. Let's just get you cleaned up and you'll be off in no time."

He stepped away and Kensi looked up at Deeks. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"For what?"

"I shouldn't have pushed to get us involved in this. This is turning out to be the worst vacation."

"Hey, that's not your fault. Somebody's gotta save the world right? Might as well be us. We can handle it."

The doctor came back and cleaned Kensi's wound, butterflying it closed. "This is going to look great in all the vacation photos," Kensi muttered.

"You look beautiful," Deeks told her. "Maybe we can cover it with a big hat."

"Just try and have a little less fun tomorrow and you should be good to go," the doctor told her.

Kensi felt sore and exhausted but Carlos and Brooklyn were waiting when they left room. "How are you?" Carlos asked immediately.

"I'm fine," Kensi told him, pushing away her weariness. "Did you find anything?"

"You know it really can wait until morning if you need to get some rest." Brooklyn had the good grace to actually look concerned.

"Earlier this year I was almost crushed to death when a helicopter landed on me. I can handle one knock to the head," Kensi snapped. "Just ask your questions."

"Why don't you just start from the beginning?"

"I had my back to him. He came up behind me, pressed the gun to my back. He said he knew we'd been following him and found his stash. He wanted to know who I worked with. I didn't tell him," she added.

"We didn't think you would," Carlos replied courteously. "What happened next?"

"He was distracted. I managed to get him to drop the gun overboard. We scuffled, he tried to smash my skull and then he choked me out. I got him off me and he ran. I might have broken his nose, I don't know."

"How did you know he was from Colombia?" Brooklyn asked.

Kensi blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Earlier today you said he was from Colombia. How did you know?"

"His accent. And he has a Cattleya trianae tattoed on his arm."

Even Deeks looked at her in surprise. "It's the national flower of Colombia," she shrugged uncomfortably. "I thought everyone knew that."

"That's my girl," Deeks said with a smile.

"Did you find anything at the scene?" Kensi asked.

"Unfortunately no. I guess we're back to the beginning. The whole op seems to be compromised." Carlos shook his head.

"Sorry to hear that. I'm going to take my lady up to bed now. She's had a long day," Deeks told them.

"Of course," Carlos said. "Give us a call if you need anything. We'll see you in the morning."

Deeks' hand sought his partner's as they walked back toward their room. "They're being pretty nice to us considering how much they didn't like us earlier today," Kensi said.

"Well you did single handedly fight off a murderous attacker tonight," Deeks observed. "And if that doesn't earn their respect I don't know what will."

"They should be pissed that I let him get away," she grumbled.

"Hey," Deeks stopped, cupping her face in his hands. "This is not your fault. You did everything you could. We'll get him."

She sighed, closed her eyes and leaned into him. "Is it bad that I want to go home?"

Deeks tried not to wince. They'd come here to relax and find each other again. So far all of that had been overshadowed. "We'll just have to find a way to fix that."

* * *

A/N: Leave your love in the reviews!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: We're almost to the end! Please remember as you read that not everything you see on television is real. Writers make things up all the time and throw it into shows and it's definitely not technically correct. So forgive errors that you see and just enjoy the craziness that is this vacation!

* * *

Kensi woke the next morning to an empty bed. Her body hurt and when she moved her head she found it throbbed. Groaning, she threw a hand over her eyes. Vacation sucked.

Struggling out from beneath the covers she walked into the bathroom, wincing when she saw the bruises around her throat. She was going to come home from vacation looking more battered than when she'd left.

The door to the room opened and Deeks returned. "Hey," he said upon seeing her out of bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Worse than when we got here," she griped.

"Oh baby," he tenderly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. "What if I told you I'd booked us a couples massage for later?"

That perked her up a little bit. "Really?"

"And I found you some donuts."

She took the bag from him and sat down on the bed. "No sprinkles?"

He joined her. "We're in the middle of the ocean Fern. I did the best I could. I also bought you this."

He pulled out the largest sunhat she'd ever seen and plopped it on her head. "Vacation photos fixed! No one will ever know you nearly had your head bashed in."

She glared at him and took a large bite of donut. "You are not funny."

His fingers came up and slid the strap of her tank top down her shoulder so he could better examine the bruises on her neck. "Carlos and Brooklyn better hope I don't find this guy first."

"He better hope _I_ don't find him first," Kensi mumbled around a mouthful of chocolate.

"He's going to have to be some kind of record breaking hide and seek champ to keep us away," Deeks said. "Name is Diego Sánchez. Born in Cartagena. He's been on this ship for three years."

Kensi raised her eyebrows.

"I went up to the bridge and called Callen this morning," he told her.

She swallowed. "You did what?"

"This is getting out of hand. It was one thing when ATF was 'handling' it but now you're hurt and it's gone too far. I wanted to make sure somebody was taking care of it."

"And?"

"ATF has been on it for a year. The captain is aware of the ongoing investigation and also aware that they've made really negligible progress. Carlos and Brooklyn got handed the case six months ago and managed to narrow things down to this particular ship. Supposedly they're the best ATF has got."

"ATF needs to dig a little deeper."

"I guess they're playing the long con on this one. They don't want to bring anybody in until they've got enough evidence to shut the whole thing down. Callen's going to keep digging and let us know if they find anything."

"They are never going to let us live this vacation down," Kensi sighed, flopping back onto the pillows.

"Nope," Deeks flopped next to her. "But we don't care what they think, right?"

"I do. Kind of," she wrinkled her nose at him.

He kissed the tip of it and then trailed a few kisses down her collarbone over the bruises mottling her skin. "Are you going to kiss them better?" she asked.

"Standard medical procedure," he teased.

Things were just starting to get interesting when there was knock on the door. Deeks' face was hovering inches from Kensi's and he hung his head. "I'm going to need a vacation from this vacation." He collapsed onto her and she laughed. "Get off! You've gained too much vacation weight!"

He lifted glared at her. "Says the woman eating donuts in bed."

"Don't pretend like you didn't eat two of them on your way back. I could smell the chocolate on you from a mile away."

He poked her playfully in the ribs as the knock sounded again, more insistently this time. "God, housekeeping is persistent around here," he groaned. As he walked to the door Kensi beaned him in the back of the head with the wadded up sunhat. "You will pay for that," he told her. He pulled the door open to reveal Brooklyn. "Well you're not the pizza man."

She pushed past him into the compartment. "I was coming to check on Kensi, but then I heard that you'd made a visit to the captain this morning."

Kensi reached for her robe, pulling it around her shoulders. "Wow, privacy much?" she asked.

"You had no business asking around about us!" Brooklyn cried.

"Whoa, listen lady, my partner got hurt last night because of your inability to close this case. When stuff like starts to happen I'm going to be looking for some answers," Deeks told her.

"You've been on this ship for five minutes and you think you can just step right in and take over? Oh that's so LAPD," she scoffed.

"If you would do your job maybe we wouldn't have to!" Kensi said acidly.

"We're switching our dinner table. Stay the hell away from our case."

"We don't want your case! We just want you to do your job!"

Brooklyn reached for the doorknob. "Hetty Lange doesn't scare me. Back off or I'll go over her head."

"Oh yeah?" Deeks yelled. "Hope you don't like to sleep at night because she's broken into people's houses for less than that!"

He looked at Kensi who raised her eyebrows. "What? She has."

The door slammed shut and Brooklyn was gone. "Well she's just lovely. I think we should stay Facebook friends after we get home," Deeks said.

Kensi fell back onto the bed in a fit of laughter and Deeks pounced, picking up right where they'd left off.

* * *

"Look at them. Just sitting there talking about boring people stuff." Kensi stabbed at her dinner, her eyes fixed across the room on their former tablemates.

"Okay, baby, listen, I know you're frustrated but that is like a forty dollar steak you're destroying right there," Deeks said, gently removing the fork from her hand.

"Oh," she looked down and grimaced. "It's not enough they have to interrupt all of our vacation activities, they have to ruin food too?"

"What hellions," Deeks agreed, taking a bite of his own steak.

"Everyone's looking at us now because we're alone."

"I don't think anybody's looking at us. I think they're eating. Which is what you should be doing because honestly I think you're a little hangry right now."

She glared at him. "You took my fork."

"Do you promise not to throw it across the room and stab Brooklyn?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes. But I might stab you if you don't give it back."

He returned the utensil to her, catching her hand as he did so. "Hi."

She took a deep breath. "Hi."

"Guess that massage this afternoon didn't quite have the desired effect huh?"

"Sorry. This whole thing is just really getting under my skin. I hate that there's some asshole running around here delivering weapons to some other assholes and THOSE assholes," she jerked her head in the direction of the other table, "aren't doing anything about it."

"I know. They are assholes who are bad at their jobs. And we are superheroes who solve every crime with time to spare."

"Damn right we do," she grumbled. "I hope those other couples are talking about golf. And the PTO. And direct sales businesses."

"Wow. You're harsh."

She met his eyes, full of laughter and smiled. "Fine. I'm done now." She took a bite of her meal. "What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Tequila tasting."

"Well that should make me forget about them."

"I was hoping it would."

* * *

A/N: Leave your love in the reviews!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Last chapter! This has been such a fun story to write this summer, and I so appreciate everyone who reviewed and read along! Enjoy!

* * *

The next day Kensi and Deeks left the ship in casual beach attire to go to their tasting. "Is there food at this thing?" Kensi asked.

"We just had breakfast!"

"Yeah, but when you have tequila without snacks you start doing that shimmy thing."

"I thought you liked that," he said, looking hurt.

"I do. When we're alone. But Magic Marty needs to stay in the bedroom."

"Fine," he grumbled. "I'm sure there will be snacks."

Kensi felt someone brush past her and turned to see Carlos and Brooklyn. "Don't tell me you're tasting tequila too."

"We booked it months ago," Brooklyn said coldly.

"Are you going to need to check the legality of the alcohol before we taste it? Maybe frisk it, or interrogate it? Because that's going to put a damper on things," Deeks told her.

"Don't sit next to us," Carlos said picking up the pace so he and Brooklyn were ahead.

"Why can't they just let us have one thing?" Kensi asked.

The shot came from nowhere. Screams rang out as cruisers scattered. Kensi and Deeks ducked, their eyes searching for the shooter as a second and third shot rang out. It was difficult to see anything through the panicked crowd but then Kensi realized Brooklyn was on the ground. "Deeks!"

She pointed and they hurried to the fallen agent. Blood oozed from a wound in her thigh. Kensi pulled off her scarf and pressed it firmly into place. Brooklyn winced. "They took Carlos."

"We'll get him," Deeks promised.

"Take this," Brooklyn handed him her Glock. "I have a back-up on my ankle."

Kensi released the second weapon. "Are you—"

"Go," Brooklyn told them, replacing Kensi's hands with her own over the wound. "I'll be all right."

There was no time to waste. If they didn't get to Carlos soon it was likely they wouldn't see him alive again. Kensi and Deeks moved down the pier, eyes searching for any sign of struggle or movement, not an easy task when so many of their fellow passengers were still running toward the ship for cover.

"There!" Deeks spotted Carlos being pulled into a van.

"Disculpe!" Kensi ran toward a man standing near a parked motorcycle. "Federale! Necesitamos pedir prestado su motocicleta, por favor!"

The man looked surprised but handed over the keys and Kensi jumped on. "Deeks!"

"Remember that time we went to Mexico and stole a motorcycle to solve a case that didn't belong to us?" Deeks yelled as he pulled on a helmet.

"Best vacation ever!" Kensi yelled back as she gunned the engine and they took off.

They followed the van through the city, twisting in and out of traffic until it stopped outside a derelict shop, the men emerging and hustling Carlos inside. Kensi cut the engine a block away and they crept forward on foot. "Four in the car," Deeks breathed, "how many more do you think are in that store?"

"Hopefully not too many," Kensi replied, trying to peek in the window without attracting attention.

"Now who's rusty?" Deeks teased.

She rolled her eyes at him and went in for another look. "I know we made fun of him but I would give anything for Eric and a flashbang right now."

"Well we're just going to have to make do."

"Okay, umm…French Twist with a Runaway Reindeer?"

"Don't you think that's a little complicated?"

"Seriously? Fine. Better idea?"

"Harry Potter and the Drunken Sailor."

"I'm sorry, that's less complicated than a Runaway Reindeer? How?"

There was a loud crash from inside. "Jack and Jill on a Sunday Afternoon?" Kensi asked.

Deeks nodded. "Let's go."

Kensi tucked the Glock behind her back in the waistband of her shorts, making sure her shirt covered it and then walked right through the front door of the shop. "Hola!" she called in an intentionally bad accent. "I needo some sunglasseso por favor!"

One of the abductors appeared from the back of the store. "Estamos cerrados!" he told her.

"Sorry, no speako the Spanisho," she told him, walking around the side so that his eyes would follow her and Deeks could sneak in the door.

"Not open," the man repeated in English.

"I just need one thing." She picked up a pair of sunglasses. "What do you think of these?"

The man began to mutter in Spanish and advanced on her. "Get out puta."

He grabbed her arm but Kensi was ready. With one swift movement she broke his nose and put him in a headlock, strangling him until he passed out. "Who's the puta now bitch?" she said, breathing heavily.

Deeks had made it to the back of the store undetected and she joined him at the top of a staircase. "Last chance to head back to the tequila tasting," he told her.

"And let the bad guys win? Never."

They reached the bottom and paused to listen. "They're asking him how he found out about them," Kensi whispered. "They're saying that if he doesn't tell they will kill him."

"Standard bad guy stuff," Deeks replied.

"It sounds like there are four of them. Including the guy from the ship."

"My baby's never wrong."

She smiled and kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you too."

They burst through the door. "Federale!"

The element of surprise was on their side and within several shots all of the abductors were lying dead or injured on the floor. Carlos was sporting a fat lip and a black eye. "Thank you," he gasped as they began to untie him.

"Couldn't let the bad guys take down a good agent," Deeks told him. "Even if you are ATF."

* * *

"Just couldn't stay away huh?" Callen teased from the video monitor on the ship's bridge.

"We tried. We really tried, but the bad guys just kept being bad," Deeks told him.

"Well listen, do your best to keep them away for the last three days of your trip all right?"

"We will," Kensi told him. "Any issues with jurisdiction?"

"ATF is a little pissed off that you guys jumped the gun on their case…"

"Did they want two dead agents?"

"But," Callen continued, "they are grateful that you saved Agent Rodriguez and assisted Agent West. Mexican police are cooperating so far. Now, leave the rest to me and the two of you go enjoy what's left of your vacation. Have a margarita for me."

"Will do," Deeks told him. "Thanks."

They signed off and turned to the captain. "I just want to say again how grateful I am that the two of you were able to step in. It's been so many months and I was starting to get concerned about the safety of my guests and crew. I would be very pleased if you joined my table for dinner this evening," he told them.

"Of course, sir." Deeks shook his hand.

"We'd be honored." Kensi shook it as well.

They left the bridge and wandered toward the bow of the ship. They were still docked, not yet having left the port despite all the chaos earlier. Deeks reached for Kensi's hand and she laced her fingers through his immediately. "If this is what vacation is going to look like for the rest of my life, I'm really glad you're the one who'll be doing it with me," he told her.

She kissed him. "Me too. Although," she cocked her head, "I'm really hoping our honeymoon is much more like the first day on the ship than today."

"That can definitely be arranged." He pulled her close and they fell onto a lounge chair together.

"Ahem."

The clearing of a throat brought them both back up again. "Seriously, don't they teach timing at ATF school?" Kensi asked, adjusting her shirt.

"Or manners?" Deeks added.

"Sorry," Carlos told them. "We just wanted to say…thank you."

"That almost sounded sincere," Kensi said.

Brooklyn rolled her eyes. "It is sincere. You saved us today, even if you did wreck our investigation."

"Yeah the gratitude is just…oozing from you," Deeks observed.

"What we're trying to say is, we appreciate the assist," Carlos said.

"Well, you're welcome," Kensi replied.

"And we're staying in port to tie up some loose ends, so you won't have to see us on the ship."

"Oh, how…sad?" Deeks said in a voice that implied he wasn't sad at all.

"Listen, hopefully we never meet up again but, you guys are decent agents so, thanks. Have a good rest of your trip."

With that Carlos and Brooklyn limped away. "Decent?" Kensi repeated. "We are far, _far_ better than decent."

"Seriously," Deeks replied.

"How about we go back to our room and I'll show you something better than decent?" Kensi bit her lip seductively and reached for his hand.

"Oh god yes," he agreed immediately.

"Before we do let's stop by the bridge and cancel our dinner with the captain, because I fully intend to make the most of _every_ second of vacation we have left."

"Decent my ass," Deeks told her as she pulled him toward the bridge. "We're freaking perfect."

* * *

A/N: Leave your final love in the reviews! It's back to teaching for me next week so it might be awhile, but I will be back!


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